DIY Tips & Hacks: Does Blink Camera work with Google Home?

As an Amazon Associate, I can earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more.

Blink is one of the perfect security cameras that work with Alexa devices. The support is pretty obvious considering the brand is a subsidiary of Amazon. But say you don’t have Alexa, does Blink camera work with Google Home? If YES, how can I connect the system myself?

First things first, either Google Home or Alexa automation is better than none. You’ll find a heated debate with varying opinions on which is more intelligent and convenient to have. But they both, and other products like them, such as Apple Homekit, are a glimpse into the Sci-fi future we ever imagined.

Things You Can Enjoy if your Blink Camera Works with Google Home

Google Home is an excellent automation system when you’re trying to build your smart home ecosystem. It was initially on the smart speaker, which we could say the company innovated to compete with the popular Amazon Echo. But you can now also get Google Home smart displays, which combine the brains of the “Google Home” app and “smart speaker” into one.

While you can use the Google Home speaker to play music or video call on the smart display, that’s not their primary purpose. Google created the devices as the vehicle of its voice-activated virtual helper- Google Assistant.

But unlike in the Google Pixel and other Android phones, the Google Assistant is slightly more sophisticated here. She’s always listening to the environment all around her but won’t act until she hears the magic word.

The “magic word” is any of the preprogrammed wake words, such as “Hey, Google” or “Okay, Google”. Then you say whatever reference command you’d want the virtual assistant to assist on at the time.

If your security camera is for outdoor or indoor work with Google Home natively, it can respond to triggers for:

Arm & Disarm your video doorbell or security camera with ease while using voice command or geofence
Showing a live stream: say something like “Show [camera name]” or “Show [camera name] on [Nest display name]”
Receive audio announcements from your video camera doorbell: just Turn on “Visitor announcements” mode from your Google Home app
Check the Health Status of your Blink: applicable to only the smart Google Home displays or app
Control your other smart devices: besides the security camera, your Google home ecosystem can also be synced to the smart lights, thermostat, lock, and alarm system. Then you can easily control all of them from one single hub.

What Smart Home Integration Services Are Compatible With Blink Camera

As you (probably) know, Blink is one of the most affordable home security cameras on the market. And the best part, you can integrate with various automation services for an easier and more fun control.

Unfortunately, Blink is not compatible with many automation systems, as the Arlo security camera and other pricey options. The Apple Homekit is the first option you can rule out as its sophistication is only limited to a few brands.

As of today, the smart home systems your Blink camera can efficiently work with include:

Amazon Alexa devices: you can activate with various voice commands on your Echo Dot speakers and view live stream videos on Echo Show displays
Samsung SmartThings: in case you didn’t know, it’s possible to integrate Blink with the SmartThings app or Hub.
IFTTT: If This Then That (or IFTTT) is another smart integration system you can connect your Blink camera to for hassle-free control. The program often works as a third-party platform that links your smart devices to “incompatible” existing automation services, devices, and apps. The companies of the “incompatible” service often pay some fees to IFTTT to have their applets available for use.
Google Assistant: ???

Does Blink Camera Work With Google Home?

As mentioned earlier, Amazon is now the owner of Blink. The brand still operates as an independent company, as it did before the acquisition in 2017. But Amazon oversees its operations and, apparently, manages the market- the products on the blink website take you back to Amazon.com.

When we now come to our topic question “does Blink camera work with Google Home”, the answer you’re looking for varies. It’s both a YES and NO.

The relationship between Amazon and Google has always been a complicated one. Their most buddy rivalry is visible online, where they are fighting for e-commerce dominance. But they also have been competing in entertainment, plus our two fields of security and home automation.

When comparing Blink and Ring the other day, we saw both cameras are only natively compatible with Alexa devices (or SmartThings). However, Blink does not work with Google Home directly, which is kind of unfair considering Google products can directly sync with Amazon Echo Show and other Alexa devices.

The only way you can have your Blink Camera work with Google Home will be by using a third-party smart automation service. It’s usually the same idea when you want your wireless security camera without Homekit integration to stream on an Apple TV.

How Does Blink Camera Work With Google Home Through a 3^rd Party Service

As I’ve just said, you’ll need an intermediary service to have your blink camera work with Google Home. The “intermediary” in this case is IFTTT digital platform, which allows you to create conditions triggered by certain changes from supported services (in this case Google Home).

If a non-techie, the whole setup process can be a little intimidating at first, despite requiring no coding skills. But once you get the hang of it, everything gets easy and you can now set up your future devices within seconds.

Four key points you should know about how Blink camera work with Google Home include:

You must authenticate both Blink & Google Home with IFTTT
Select an Applet or service that will play as a trigger for your system and initiate the automation command. In this case, the trigger service is the Google Assistant applet and the trigger can be a specific phrase, such as “blink off”
Choose an action that should occur after your “trigger” from the “Applet/ service” in “2” above activates.
Finally, you’ll need to choose the specific Blink camera you’d like to control on Google Home through the IFTTT configuration.

Again, this might feel like something too complicated to do. But after the first setup, the second and third configurations will be so easy.

Steps On How To Enable Your Blink Camera To Work With Google Home

The following is a three-part setup process you can use to get your Blink camera to work with Google Home.

Part (I): Configure your Blink Service with IFTTT

Install the IFTTT mobile app to your phone (if you haven’t already)
Launch the IFTTT app and log in to your account. If new to the platform, you can create an account or log in directly with your pre-saved Google, Apple, or Facebook account.
After a successful login, tap the “Explore” tab on the bottom tray to open the search menu
In the Seach bar displayed, type Blink, then select the first “Blink” result
Next, tap the “Connect” button to sign in to your Blink account
After signing in with your correct Blink credentials, you’ll then need to enter the “Email PIN Verification” shared in your inbox. (You can expect a slight delay in the PIN delivery)
Now, Tap “Grant Access” to connect your Blink service to the applets available on IFTTT
Proceeds with Part II below

Part (II): Configure your Google Home with IFTTT

Launch the IFTTT on your device again
Tap the Explore button, then type Google Assistant in the search bar
Select Google Assistant v2 from the service options displayed and it will take you to the sub-menu to create your trigger
Tap the “Connect” Button, then follow the on-screen instructions to sync your IFTTT and Google Home accounts. The apps will juggle you between the two to complete the configuration. It’s only if your IFTTT account has active smart devices will Google Home app will be able to configure.

Part (III): Create a New Applet & Trigger for your Blink Camera

After a successful link on Google Home, go back to the IFTTT app and open the Google Assistant sub-menu again
Finally, Tap the “Create” button and follow the onscreen instructions to create a new Applet and trigger to control your Blink camera by voice commands

Note: You can finalize Part (III) to create a new Applet for your Blink camera at the IFTTT Website. The results are pretty much the same as when using the app route (but the app will be much quicker).

Is Connecting Blink Camera with Google Home Worth it?

Different from native compatibility, connecting Blink camera with Google Home through IFTTT will take you up to ten minutes or more to complete. But once successful, you’ll be able to control your security system effortlessly using simple voice commands set in Part (III) as the trigger.

Sadly, however, the actions Google Home can do through IFTTT are currently limited to only arming and disarming your Blink camera. It’s currently tricky to access all the Google Home amenities, such as showing live streams or control by gesture on the smart display. The same goes for the visitor announcements.

If you’re okay with just the arming/ disarming your Blink camera, our three-stage setup here may be worth it. But when you have a smart display, all the hassle here is certainly not worth it. You’re still limited to only arming and disarming your system.